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I spend a lot of time thinking about a Raymond Chandler quote I once read.
The perfect detective story cannot be written, he said.
It has the ring of truth to it, unfortunately.
The contemporary novelist who comes closest to real parity between story and art may beTana French.
But thats almost certainly a product of tenacity and intelligence, not instinct.
I say all this as someone whos written12 mystery novelsnow, besides one unrelated literary novel.
I really truly sincerely dont recommend that, method-wise.
So here it is.
I start by writing a brief, extremely dull short story.
Then, as Im writing, I sift these details into the text one by one.
He also said you get no more than one secret passageway or chamber per book.
So use it wisely.)
Which is not to say that I know exactly how the story will turn out.
I wish I had that kind of control over my material P.D.
Still, the lineaments of the puzzle remain intact, visible to me in that uninteresting little story.
This probably sounds like an artificial way to go about writing a book.
But it isnt, or at least, it doesnt feel that way when Im inside of doing it.
If not, I scrap it immediately.)
Theres no evidence that Michelangelo gave his famous advice about how to sculpt: Remove everything that isnt David.
Too bad, though.
Still, you’re able to teach someone how to hold the chisel.
Theres some irony (I think?
Then let the reader start chipping.
